A Dangerous Precedent

According to the Fifth Amendment
to the U.S.
Constitution, Americans are never to be deprived of life, liberty, or
property without due process of law. The Constitution is not some
aspirational statement of values, allowing exceptions when convenient;
rather, it is the law of the land. It is the basis of our Republic
and our principal bulwark against tyranny.

Last week’s assassination of two American
citizens, Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, is an outrage and a criminal
act carried out by the president and his administration. If the law
protecting us against government-sanctioned assassination can be voided
when there is a “really bad American,” is there any meaning left to the
rule of law in the United States? If,
as we learned last week, a secret government committee, not subject to
congressional oversight or judicial review, can now target certain
Americans for assassination, under what moral authority do we presume to
lecture the rest of the world about protecting human rights? Didn’t we
just bomb Libya
into oblivion under the auspices of protecting the civilians from being
targeted by their government? Timothy McVeigh was certainly a threat,
as were Nidal Hasan and Jared Lee Loughner. They killed people in
front of many witnesses. They took up arms against their government in a
literal way yet were still afforded trials. These constitutional
protections are in place because our Founders realized it is a very
serious matter to deprive any individual of life or liberty. Our
outrage against even the obviously guilty is not worth the sacrifice of
the rule of law. Awlaki has been outspoken against the United States,
and we are told he encouraged violence against Americans. We do not
know that he actually committed any acts of violence. Ironically, he
was once invited to the Pentagon as part of an outreach to moderate
Muslims after 9/11. As the U.S.
attacks against Muslims in the Middle East and Central Asia expanded, it
is said that he became more fervent and radical in his opposition to U.S. foreign policy.

Many
cheer this killing because they believe that in a time of war, due
process is not necessary — not even for citizens, and especially not for
those overseas. However, there has been no formal declaration of war
and certainly not one against Yemen.
The post-9/11 authorization for force would not have covered these two
Americans because no one is claiming they had any connection to that
attack. Awlaki was on a kill list compiled by a secret panel within
President Obama’s National Security Council and Justice Department. How
many more Americans citizens are on that list? They won’t tell us.
What are the criteria? They won’t tell us. Where is the evidence? They
won’t tell us.

Awlaki’s father tried desperately to get the
administration to at least allow his son to have legal representation to
challenge the “kill” order. He was denied. Rather than give him his day
in court, the administration, behind closed doors, served as
prosecutor, judge, jury, and executioner. The most worrisome aspect of
this is that any new powers this administration accrues will serve as
precedents for future administrations. Even those who completely trust
this administration must understand that if this usurpation of power and
denial of due process is allowed to stand, these powers will remain to
be expanded on by the next administration and then the next. Will you
trust them? History shows that once a population gives up its rights,
they are not easily won back. Beware.

Author: Ron Paul

Ron Paul is a former Republican congressman from Texas. He was the 1988 Libertarian Party candidate for president.
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